“Very hard to raise money, very hard to put a national organization together in the period of time he would have to do so. And I think that the governor himself, it would be wiser for him to really establish himself in New Jersey because he hasn’t been there very long,” the O’Reilly Factor host told me.

O’Reilly says it would be wiser for Christie to sit back and take his time before making a bid for the Oval Office.

As for the other 2012 contenders, I asked O’Reilly why Republicans can’t give up the dream of someone else getting in the race?

“It’s always greener over there on the other side. ‘Oh he’s better, and he’s better.’ And then when they get in, just like Rick Perry, ‘Oh he’s not so good,’” he said.

But O’Reilly thinks it’s too early to start digging his grave, telling me we need to give the candidates time.

“[Perry's] a guy that has a good record in Texas, that has a conservative base that likes him. Yeah he didn’t do that well. But there are a whole bunch of other debates and maybe he’ll do better,” O’Reilly said.

Watch my interview below and CLICK HERE to read an excerpt from O’Reilly’s latest book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.